Do you have an aftermarket hitch?

 

right rear seat belt hitting or rubbing the side panel or rear seat back not secured (not locked properly)

 

@ cpersing...
No, I have not installed one yet.

@jetech00001...
I'm not sure about the seat belt thing...
The sound is a very deep thump sound, I would think that the seat belt would be a light tapping sound (plastic on plastic).

 

i should have said shoulder harness the metal bayonet part as it could be banging the side when you make the turn.

 

have you checked the wheel lug nuts to see if they are loose.

 

The Sportage has thumps and knocks in the suspension. They made some improvements on the 2012, particularly in the rear. Maybe yours has something loose, like a sway bar end link or shock mount. I would drop it off at the dealer and let them see what they can find.

 

One of the areas that Kia does not seem to be up to speed on yet is cold weather operation. I have noticed that since the temps have fallen, the suspension has become very noisy. Sooner or later they will probably get this figured out but, in the mean time, they seem to be behind in this area of design and manufacturing.

 

Also the seat belt buckle for the middle seat in rear when its not fully pushed into its holding slot will make thumping noise.

 

Is it just a noise or do you notice a shutter/hesitation etc? While turning right exiting my driveway my awd SX will shutter under acceleration. Having read many reviews about the SX, one reviewer noticed a similar characteristic. He attributed it to the electronics compensating for the unloaded rear wheel(s) on sharp turns on choppy surfaces. Find a corner that consistently causes the problem, if possible, coast around the corner without accelerating and see if the problem disappears or is greatly reduced.

 

A strange tale to add to this discussion; when I picked mine up from the dealer after my recent problem with the crank position sensor connector, I immediately noticed a 'thump' in one of the wheels, like a bad tire or sometimes a wheel bearing. A wheel bearing would be no big deal since it would be covered, but I didn't want to replace a tire after only 7500 miles. I did get a flat and had to put a boot in the tire this summer so I figured it was that one. But I couldn't figure why it started so suddenly just leaving the dealership. Anyway, I just drove the car normally for a few days, keeping my eye on the tires. I was much more concerned that the connector fix was good and it wasn't going to break down on me. To my surprise the 'thump' gradually diminished and now is gone. The only thing I can think is that when the mechanic test-drove the car he must have run over something that stuck to the tire and wore off over a few days' driving. Bad tires and wheel bearings don't 'get well' - it had to be something temporary.
So now I'm not only extremely happy with the car running the best it has since I took delivery (I think the CPS connector was loose since new), but even happier that I don't have to spring for a new tire or have the car laid up for a wheel bearing.

 

A big thank you to all who posted...

I have an appointment with my local dealer on Monday the 9th...
I will be sure to post updates.

 

Update:

Sorry it has taken so long to get back to this... It has been an ongoing battle.

The car has been to the dealer several times and they have been reluctant to help out much, I heard everything from "We don't hear anything" to "It sounds normal to me... Bring it back if it gets louder or happens more often".
I actually had to start screaming at the service manager at one point (during the 4th visit) because all he would say is "We checked everything out... There's nothing we can do..."

Finally, the owner of the dealership came walking around the corner after hearing all the commotion and asked if he could help, I explained the situation, and the service manager explained what they had done.

The owner said "How about you and I go into the service bay and put your car on a lift, and we get a technician to go over every nut and bolt on the rear suspension and drive components with a torque wrench and make sure that they are up to spec?" I agreed of course.

Well they took the wheels off and started on one side and worked all the way to the other hitting every nut and bolt along the way, most were tight but some were slightly lose, like 1/4 to 1/2 turn (which probably would not make the noise) but lose none the less.

We took the car for a ride and the noise was STILL THERE!!! so back to the shop we went... he and the tech. started going over the car with a fine tooth comb and were shaking the car while one was sitting inside, and walking around the car and tapping various panels trying to re-create the sound... At one point they even had 3 techs pushing the car around the lot with the engine off and the owner driving LOL!!!

At long last they came up with a result... Unbelievably, it was an interior panel!!!
One of the friction plugs had come away from the panel and when the car hit a bump the panel had enough flex in it to tap the plug and the sound resonated through the chassis making it sound like a suspension component... Freaking crazy right?

Well, mystery solved...

 

wow, jgomez! that's quite a story, glad to hear that they finally figured it out

Can you tell which panel & friction plugs was causing the noise? I've been experiencing it myself and would love to know how to fix it.

 

It was the panel on the passenger side cargo area (the one with the sub-woofer)

 

Thank you! I'll go check out my car to see if I that panel is loose.

 

Did you have to remove the panel to reset the plug or did you just simply start pounding the panel?

 

They had to remove the panel cuz the friction plug was still in it's hole.
The head of it broke and it came away from the panel.

 

Thumping Sound Explained

Check this out, it explained my "Thumping Sound". http://www.kia-forums.com/3g-2011-sportage/73129-thumping-pulsating-humming-noise-heard-when.html

 

Check this out, it explained my "Thumping Sound". http://www.kia-forums.com/3g-2011-sportage/73129-thumping-pulsating-humming-noise-heard-when.html

Yeah I read this too (a while back)...

Thanks for the post but it has absolutely nothing to do with the topic of this thread. :huh:

 

Doesnt explain my flapping sticker sound from passenger engine/dash area though...
It's wind caused, head winds suck. It's GOT to be a sticker/flap loose somewhere..UGH but where!!!

 

I have been trying to find out this flapping sticker sound also. What I have noticed is that it will only come if the temperature is approximately above 12 celsius (55 Fahrenheit). To me it sounds like some small plastic part (or wire) is vibrating against some other parts. I will take the car again in service to find out what is causing this. I will post update if I figure out where it comes from. Or if someone else finds out about this please let us know...it is VERY annoying.

 

I have a thumping sound on my sportage but it only happens when I brake. I took it to the dealer they allegedly rebalanced and did all that good stuff to the wheels but it's
Still there. Any comments on what it could be?